Based on the number of NBA and high-level European players, the Paris Olympics should have the most competitive basketball tournament of all time. The stakes will be huge, and the level of play we’re about to see could be similarly great.
As we do with most major FIBA events, we’re going to predict the top players at the tournament. This list features multiple MVPs and future first-ballot Hall of Famers.
Below, check out our prediction for the Top 15 players at the 2024 Olympic basketball tournament.
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Nikola Jokic (Serbia) 🇷🇸
Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images
Olympic stats: 9.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 50.0 FG% in eight games
FIBA accolades: One silver medal at the 2016 Olympics Many would think that three-time NBA MVP and one-time NBA champion
Nikola Jokic would be seen as a faultless hero among basketball fans in Serbia, his native country, but that's actually not 100 percent the case, as the historically great big man has taken some heat in the past in Serbia for passing on representing his homeland to prioritize rest for the NBA season. Regardless, Jokic has a huge shot to redeem himself forever with his country's basketball fans by winning a gold medal. If Jokic is able to accomplish that, he'd also be inching closer to
international GOAT status , a list in which we ranked fifth last year. Either way, a huge summer is ahead for Jokic, and it'll be interesting to look back on this in a month to see how the current best basketball player in the world fares with his native Serbia on the international stage.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada) 🇨🇦
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
FIBA accolades: Bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup The No. 2 finisher in the MVP vote this NBA season, Canadian superstar
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player at last year's FIBA World Cup Tournament even though he didn't win MVP. The former Kentucky standout put up huge numbers at the event – 24.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists on 54.5 percent shooting over eight games – while leading Canada to a bronze medal after defeating Team USA in the third-place game, Canada's first-ever medal at a World Cup in basketball. How's that for an introduction to senior-level international basketball tournament action for Gilgeous-Alexander? The Oklahoma City Thunder star followed that up with an MVP-caliber season and now leads the best Canadian team ever, one full of NBA talent, so it'll be exciting to see how both SGA and this Canadian team do at this Olympic tournament.
Anthony Davis (United States) 🇺🇸
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Olympic games stats: 4.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 78.6 FG% in six games
FIBA accolades: Gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, gold medal at the 2014 World Cup
Anthony Davis was first part of the USA Basketball program 12 years ago, starting off at the 2012 Olympics and then featuring more prominently with the 2014 World Cup team that won the gold medal at that event. Davis will be much more of a force at this summer Olympic tournament than he was in 2012, obviously, and has already been featured as much more of a focal point in the exhibition games leading up to the event, even despite the fact he's been coming off the bench for the team. Davis has been so good for Team USA leading up to the tournament that many – from fans to media members – wonder if he might not be deserving of the starting spot over
Joel Embiid , who hasn't shined quite as brightly as Davis so far this summer. In particular, AD's defense has been otherworldly, with the fleet-footed big man blocking shots left and right, deterring foes at the rim, and holding his own when asked to switch defensively. Davis has looked like the most impactful Team USA player so far this summer when taking into account offense and defense, hence, his place in this ranking.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) 🇬🇷
Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images
We've talked about this here before but some people in Greece consider American-born-and-raised
Nikos Galis to be the best player in the country's history over Milwaukee Bucks star
Giannis Antetokounmpo because the former went all the way to gold with the National Team in the 1980s while Antetokounmpo – to this point – hasn't come close to doing that. Don't believe us? Check out
this article we did on the subject just last year. Here's a glimpse: https://twitter.com/jmnss81/status/1694436496302809384 That's obviously nuts considering Antetokounmpo is a former NBA MVP with a championship under his belt, by far the highest honors in basketball whether European basketball fans want to hear it or not, but at the same time, there's some truth about Antetokounmpo's shortcomings with the national program. Antetokounmpo has a long history playing for Greece despite not having qualified for the Olympics with his country until this year. Here are some of Greece's results with Antetokounmpo on the roster:
- Greece finished ninth at the 2014 FIBA World Cup
- Greece finished fifth at the 2015 Eurobasket after losing in the quarterfinals
- Greece failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics despite Antetokounmpo suiting up for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament
- Greece finished 11th at the 2019 World Cup after losing in the second round
- Greece finished fifth at the 2022 Eurobasket after losing in the quarterfinal
Antetokounmpo has individually played well when suiting up for Greece, averaging 19.3 points in 29 official games at major FIBA tournaments, but after seeing that much National Team futility over the past 10 years, maybe it's easier to understand why some Greek fans don't rate Antetokounmpo the way American fans do. Even so, Antetokounmpo remains one of the best players in the world, one we believe will be among the most impactful at this summer's Olympics.
Victor Wembanyama (France) 🇫🇷
Photo by MAXIME GRUSS/AFP via Getty Images
Former No. 1 overall draft pick in the NBA
Victor Wembanyama should be well rested for his first big test with the National Team considering his regular season with the San Antonio Spurs ended back on April 12. France has not looked great in exhibition games leading up to the Olympic tournament, losing four games in a row heading into the prestigious event, but we expect great things for them and Wembanyama in Paris. After all, just look at some of the reigning Rookie of the Year's highlights during France's recent exhibition action against Germany which saw the big man drop 25 points and five three-pointers: https://twitter.com/davidsardinero/status/1809631509915058189/ They may be facing all the pressure in the world considering the games are in their own nation's capital, but the frontcourt of Wembanyama and four-time Defensive Player of the Year
Rudy Gobert is just so potent. Plus, the rest of France's roster is filled with high-level pros in Europe along with some more NBA players like
Nicolas Batum and
Evan Fournier so the blend of talent plus the homecourt advantage for Wembanyama and Co. should be huge.
LeBron James (United States) 🇺🇸
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Olympic games stats: 11.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 59.7 FG% in 22 games
FIBA accolades: Gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, bronze medal at the 2006 World Cup If there was any question about the pecking order for Team USA when things get tough, it was clarified in exhibition games with
LeBron James taking over late against South Sudan and Germany to save USA Basketball from an ugly blemish prior to the Olympics. James' physicality and athleticism remain top-tier despite the four-time NBA MVP nearing 40 years of age, and have so far proven quite difficult for FIBA opponents to slow down this summer. Team USA would likely prefer to not need many more James takeovers this summer to squeak out wins but the reality is that the rest of the world is playing basketball at a level we have never seen before, so the Americans will have their work cut out for them despite having easily the strongest roster in the world and at these Olympics. James will be looking for his third-career Olympic gold medal this summer to just further add to his potential GOAT legacy, and based on how these exhibitions have gone, he'll need to be the leader late in tight games for the Americans, especially with questions surrounding his superstar Team USA teammate
Kevin Durant and his health.
Rudy Gobert (France) 🇫🇷
Photo by MAXIME GRUSS/AFP via Getty Images
Olympic games stats: 8.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 57.6 FG% in 12 games
Accolades: Silver medal at the 2020 Olympics, silver medal at the 2022 Eurobasket, bronze medal at the 2014 World Cup, 2019 World Cup and 2015 Eurobasket Another player who'll have huge expectations on his shoulders this summer will be Gobert, who will be playing in his home country and looking to finally reach the mountaintop he has come oh so close to various times already. Gobert has come agonizingly close to winning gold with the French National Team many times already in his career, having to settle for a silver medal at the most recent Olympics after falling to Team USA in the gold-medal game by merely an 87-82 final marker. France had already beaten the Americans in that very tournament, too, in the opening group-stage match for both teams, as well as in a pre-tournament exhibition between the two basketball powers, so gold was there for the taking for France. That USA squad wasn't at the level this year's is, either, with
Draymond Green and
Zach LaVine starting for the team and the likes of
Keldon Johnson and
JaVale McGee getting minutes. We're not trying to knock those guys too harshly, they're all good-to-very-good players, but that squad paled in comparison – at least in terms of personal accolades – to the team USA is bringing to the 2024 Olympics. That's to say, Gobert and France had maybe their best chance at gold in basketball at the 2020 Olympics and just missed out. Might they be able to do it this summer instead, with Wembanyama now in the fold? Regardless, you have to consider Gobert one of the all-time greats in FIBA tournaments, winning so much notable hardware for France even without the final missing piece: the gold medal. Gobert remains an elite player in the NBA, so we expect a huge tournament out of him in front of his home crowd.
Stephen Curry (United States) 🇺🇸
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
FIBA accolades: Gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups After finally winning Finals MVP in 2022, the one final bit of hardware missing from
Stephen Curry's Hall-of-Fame mantle is an Olympics gold medal. Curry does have two gold medals with Team USA already from his time at the 2010 and 2014 World Cup but he has yet to win Olympic gold. Curry recently talked about why winning an Olympic gold hasn't happened for him yet (
via Andscape ):
“In 2012, I didn’t get picked because I wasn’t on the level I needed to be,” said Curry about the 2012 USA Basketball gold medal team that included Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. “In ’16, I was coming off the Finals run and I didn’t feel I would get the rest I needed to get ready for the next season. And in 2020, it was a COVID year. And just that whole process, I don’t remember what was going on family wise. But it wasn’t a good time for me. “[Warriors teammate] Draymond [Green] played. He won twice (2016 and 2020). So, obviously I was watching him and missed out. This year, the stars aligned. It feels great. I’ve obviously had some time off for the ramp-up and Paris. It is all really cool.
Curry will be one of the top players at the Paris Olympics even if his exhibition showings leading up to the tournament were a little up and down. His shooting ability coupled with the shorter FIBA three-point line should lead to some very impressive shooting performances out of the two-time NBA MVP.
Jamal Murray (Canada) 🇨🇦
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
FIBA accolades: Silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games Be it due to injuries or to recover from long NBA seasons, 2022-23 NBA champion
Jamal Murray hasn't played all that much for Canada thus far in his career, even dropping out of the 2023 FIBA World Cup despite making a three-year commitment to the program back in 2022. That leaves him facing some pressure at these Olympics, considering the Canadian National Team is loaded and will be seen as one of the favorites to at least podium at the tournament. With Murray declining or being unable to represent his country at other major FIBA tournaments to this point, Canadian fans will be looking at him to step up this summer. Even leading up to this tournament, Murray missed some exhibition action for Canada for undisclosed reasons, sitting out the team's game against France and playing just seven minutes against Puerto Rico. There's some question about what his role might be at the Olympics, too (
via SportsNet ):
Insiders have said that Murray has been energetic and engaged during training camp and collaborative in all respects regarding playing time and role. He said wearing a Canadian jersey for the first time since the 2015 Pan Am Games was a special moment. “It had been a minute,” Murray said in Las Vegas. “When I was first out there, I felt excited.” Still it remains to be seen exactly how the 2023 NBA champion with a career playoff scoring average of 24.2 points a game fits in on a Canadian team that was firing on all cylinders without him on their way to a World Cup bronze last summer.
Murray is one of this tournament's biggest X-Factors. If he plays like Playoff Murry alongside a talent like SGA, Canada could win gold. But if he struggles to find his role on a team that performed so well without him last summer, things could get tricky for Canada head coach
Jordi Fernandez .
Anthony Edwards (United States) 🇺🇸
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Star 2-guard
Anthony Edwards caused a bit of a stir before the pre-Olympic exhibition games for Team USA by declaring he'd be the team's No. 1 option this summer despite playing with various future first-ballot Hall-of-Famers: https://twitter.com/samyip__/status/1810071733791297939 That hasn't been an issue again, nor has it really been true with LeBron James looking more like the No. 1 option late in games in the team's exhibitions, but even so, maybe Edwards was being a bit tongue-in-cheek with his comment. Regardless, a lot will be expected out of Edwards this summer, who's so far been coming off the bench behind
Devin Booker . Despite that, Edwards has played well in the exhibition season, scoring 11 points on eight shots, including this insane dunk... https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1815475753640997246 ...recently against Germany. Without a doubt, after the season he just had in leading the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals while finishing with 2nd Team All-NBA honors, Edwards will have a lot of eyes on him in the Olympics. Edwards got some good FIBA experience under his belt last summer at the World Cup even despite USA's letdown four-place showing, leading the team in scoring at 18.9 points per game, which should help him have another big tournament in Paris coming up.
Kevin Durant (United States) 🇺🇸
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Olympic games stats: 19.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 52.8 FG% in 20 games
FIBA accolades: Four gold medals (2010 FIBA World Cup in Turkey, 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan). This summer, former league MVP
Kevin Durant could be the first men's player to win four gold medals in basketball at the Olympics, breaking the tie with
Carmelo Anthony .
Arguably the Team USA GOAT, Durant faced concerns early in his career about how the physicality of FIBA basketball could hamper his effectiveness due to his thin frame. Clearly, those concerns wound up being all for naught as Durant's style as a pure jump shooter who can drop buckets from all over the floor in a seven-foot frame ended up fitting perfectly to FIBA style. Durant now ranks as the U.S.'s all-time leading scorer in Olympic basketball , currently sitting at 435 points with the next closest active player, LeBron James, at just 273 points.
Durant would be ranked higher on this list if not for questions about his health heading into the tournament.
Jayson Tatum (United States) 🇺🇸
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Olympic games stats: 15.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 49.3 FG% in six games
FIBA accolades: Gold medal at the 2020 Olympics After recently winning the first championship of his NBA career, Boston Celtics superstar
Jayson Tatum has his eyes on more hardware this summer in the form of a second Olympic gold medal. The former Duke Blue Devil had a great showing at the 2020 Olympics, averaging over 15 points at the event to be the team's second-leading scorer behind only Durant, who was clearly the team's best player. It'll be interesting to see how Tatum establishes himself here with a far more loaded roster around him, but we think he'll be a standout anyway, as his game has a FIBA flavor to it.
Dennis Schroeder (Germany) 🇩🇪
Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images
FIBA accolades: Gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, bronze medal at the 2022 Eurobasket One of the few small guys out of Europe to really have success in the NBA,
Dennis Schroeder usually goes super nova playing with Germany. He won MVP last year at the World Cup while leading his country to a gold medal at the tournament, Germany's first-ever World Cup title in basketball. Schroeder impressively averaged over 22 points and seven assists there. Schroeder has plenty of FIBA experience besides that, playing for Germany at the Eurobasket in 2015, 2017 and 2022 to go with last year's World Cup, though this will be his first time playing at the Olympics.
Joel Embiid (United States) 🇺🇸
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
As if the USA didn't already have enough talent, they also went and naturalized the Cameroon-born
Joel Embiid and added him to the roster this summer. As always, it's health and availability that will be an issue with him but when healthy, there's no question his presence will be a huge one for Team USA, even despite some ups-and-downs for him individually in the team's exhibition games heading into the Olympics. Embiid's massive frame, finishing ability down low, shooting touch and shot-blocking will be enormous for U.S. basketball this summer, especially considering some of the big men they'll have to face at the tournament, including Jokic.
Franz Wagner (Germany) 🇩🇪
Photo by Luciano Lima/Getty Images
FIBA accolades: Gold medal at the 2023 World Cup, bronze medal at the 2022 EuroBasket Despite being just 22, blossoming Orlando Magic star
Franz Wagner has some high-level FIBA experience, helping his native Germany win gold at last year's World Cup alongside Schroeder. On top of that, Wagner helped the country win bronze at Eurobasket the year prior. Wagner's game fits FIBA really well, as his physicality and slashing ability make him tough to stop in the international setting. Wagner recently impressed in an exhibition game against the U.S., scoring 18 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in a close four-point defeat for the Germans, who could be an Olympic darkhorse this summer.
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